Undetectable = Untransmittable

Have you noticed the hashtag #UequalsU? Wondered what it means? Well it’s pretty simple, it stands for “undetectable = untransmittable” and this is what it means:

People living with HIV who have an undetectable viral load do not transmit HIV to their sexual partners.

Did you know that? Did you know that if you have HIV and are on treatment and virally suppressed, it doesn’t just reduce the risk that HIV can be transmitted, it effectively eliminates it?

Well it’s true. Results from the PARTNER study published last year showed that among 888 mixed-status couples (one parter was HIV positive, the other HIV negative) who reported more than 58,000 individual acts of condomless sex, there was not one instance of transmission from someone with an undetectable viral load to a negative partner.

These decisive results—added to finding from previous studies, as well as 20+ years of real-world experience with effective combination therapy for HIV—are about as conclusive as they can be. That’s why we’re comfortable saying that people with an undetectable viral load pose no transmission risk to their sexual partners.